Photography of Religious Architecture

Testimonials

“It is rare that a great photographic artist can be an accomplished writer on Romanesque architecture at the same time. In PJ McKey and Dennis Aubrey, we have two such rare individuals in the mold of Pere Angelico Surchamp in terms of their dedication to chronicling the vast landscape of the Romanesque architecture. The erudite yet concise texts that accompany their sublime photographs, and the wealth of information they cull from wide fields of cultural history, add another dimension to their labor of love.” Jong-Soung Kimm, FAIA

Kimm is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and a Fellow, Korean Institute of Architects. Over the past thirty years, Kimm has produced buildings of diverse types, including the internationally recognized Weightlifting Gymnasium for the 1988 Seoul Olympics; the Sonje Museum of Contemporary Art in Kyongju; the Energy Systems Research Center and the University Hospital for Ajou University in Suwon; the Hotel Hilton International, and the Headquarters Building for SK Corporation in Seoul.

“The work of Dennis Aubrey and PJ McKey recording the Romanesque churches of France has no equal. Their numinous photographs not only give a clear impression of the play of light across and within the space and detail of their subjects but even more, they convey a sense of the sacred and immanent.” Douglas Read RIBA PPRIAS

Read is accredited in Conservation through the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. He is a Past President of the Edinburgh Architectural Association and a Past President of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland on whose Council he now sits as a nationally elected member. He is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and has served on their Council. He is a member of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland, on whose Edinburgh Cases Panel he formerly served, and a member of the Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings.

“Dennis and Patricia are two of the most incredible Americans I have met. There are few French people who know the old French Romanesque and Gothic churches as thoroughly as Dennis and Patricia. They have photographed around 1000 of these churches the last 10 years, crisscrossing France to help us preserve these thousand year-old world heritage churches.

They have also been absolute champions for Notre Dame de Chartres doing incredible work for American Friends of Chartres. I recommend you dive into their world through their unsurpassed photos. Perhaps you see this incredible light that I am able to admire thanks to them. ” Servane de Layre Mathéus, Présidente, Chartres, Sanctuaire du Monde (CSM)

Mme de Layre Mathéus is a medievalist with a graduate degree in history. She is a former adviser and head of the press service of the Ministry of Labour in the French national government. Raised during the Second World War by her grandmother, she was always enamored of the Cathedral of Chartres. She has served as president or chair of numerous associations related to Chartres, including Chartres, Sanctuaire du Monde that helps fund the restoration of Notre Dame de Chartres, the Centre International du Vitrail (International Stained Glass Center), and the Millennium Celebration of Bishop Fulbert of Chartres. She is also vice-president of the Association Perche Païence (Association Perche Earthenware) and participated in the creation of the Cité de la Musique at La Villette.

Mme de Layre Mathéus has been honored by the French government as Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur and as an officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

“A viewer of the images of Dennis Aubrey and PJ McKey gets a strong feeling of those that have gone before us, of the shoulders we are all standing on, spiritually as well was architecturally. In some deeper fashion, the images speak ecclesiology to the viewer, and in many ways teach us what we use to think of ourselves and how this self-perception determined what we built. To my eye, the religious landscapes of the Romanesque and Gothic worlds are vibrant and very much alive thanks to Via Lucis images.” R. Vincent Park

Vincent Park has served as a speaker at scores of photography industry events, including COMDEX, CES, Internet World, Media Convenience Seminars, NEC / Japan Society conference on Mass Media’s High Tech Future, and Photo Marketing Association, among others. He provides communications and marketing services for clients in the consumer electronics, technology, and Internet services fields.

Comments on Via Lucis

“There are people who take pictures, there are photographers, and then, there is Via Lucis. This is the most incredible collection of images from Medieval churches I have yet seen. These places are amazing to start with, but what Dennis Aubrey and PJ McKey accomplish in these spaces with a camera is breathtaking.”

“How do you do it – time after time after time – beautiful photographs that need no words and beautiful words that need no photographs? Combined they transport us to the deepest place of our inner selves. Your gifts of self – an eye for finding the beauty in these ancient buildings and your ability to capture that beauty and share it with others – those are your blessings on those of us fortunate enough to know of your site and follow it.” – Jay Fredrich